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The Thief of Letters
In 1776, Thomas Paine's pamphlet, "Common Sense," inspired 150,000 readers to fight for their freedom against Great Britain. But at the same time, African Americans could get their hands chopped off for merely holding a book. This is the remarkable story of Helen Manning, an 11-year-old slave who started her own revolution by secretly teaching herself to read.
286 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2002
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October 30, 2009
The Thief of Letters is yet another tale of the tragic mulatto—however, this time Johnson’s vivid imagination and outstanding writing skills breathes new life into a tired story line. This is the story of Brandy/Helen who was sold away from her mother at a young age. (I pause here to relay that the imagery painted by Johnson for this scene in the novel was powerful and heartbreaking—the mother’s pain and humiliation crept from the pages into the reader’s mind). The reader follows Helen into adulthood as she evolves from being the master’s daughter’s helpmate to the mistress of the master’s son.
True to the “tragic mulatto” formula, Helen is largely ostracized by the majority of the slaves because of her light skin and initial station as a “house” Negro. Her association to the local slave/witch who practices voodoo causes nearly all the slaves to fear her. Her torment is exacerbated when the master notices her strength and stamina during play and places her in the field with the very Negroes who despise and fear her.
Her solace comes in the form of stealing letters (one at a time) from the master’s children’s spelling books to learn the alphabet. She eventually teaches herself to read. This ability will save her life (and others) repeatedly throughout her adventures in pursuit of freedom. There is so much more to this book that this review does not cover because of space and time constraints. Simply said: The author is a great storyteller and the book is superbly written. There are so many underlying issues and topics of discussion that were intertwined in the novel that one simply has to read it for themselves to appreciate this body of work. Well done, Ms. Johnson! This book is on my Best Reads List of 2002!
True to the “tragic mulatto” formula, Helen is largely ostracized by the majority of the slaves because of her light skin and initial station as a “house” Negro. Her association to the local slave/witch who practices voodoo causes nearly all the slaves to fear her. Her torment is exacerbated when the master notices her strength and stamina during play and places her in the field with the very Negroes who despise and fear her.
Her solace comes in the form of stealing letters (one at a time) from the master’s children’s spelling books to learn the alphabet. She eventually teaches herself to read. This ability will save her life (and others) repeatedly throughout her adventures in pursuit of freedom. There is so much more to this book that this review does not cover because of space and time constraints. Simply said: The author is a great storyteller and the book is superbly written. There are so many underlying issues and topics of discussion that were intertwined in the novel that one simply has to read it for themselves to appreciate this body of work. Well done, Ms. Johnson! This book is on my Best Reads List of 2002!
Displaying 1 of 1 review